The days when forklift truck companies simply sold hardware are long gone.
The modern truck user expects a total range of managed services from his equipment provider from warehouse planning and fleet rationalisation analysis through productivity and utilisation reports to fully managed maintenance packages and operator training. And most users will not hesitate to switch suppliers if their expectations are not met.
“A truck supplier’s asset management expertise has become a critical aspect of any truck deal,’ says Nicholas Allen, After Sales Director of Jungheinrich UK Ltd.
Indeed, effective fleet management is now regarded as essential if optimum truck performance is to be achieved and, at sites where a mixed forklift fleet is in operation, ie, there is more than one truck brand working at the facility, it is increasingly popular for a single supplier to assume total responsibility for managing the entire fleet. Such arrangements are known as multi vendor service (MVS) contracts.
MVS contracts offer a number of benefits to the truck user. For instance, clarity on support cost as the user receives a single invoice from a single supplier. Also, the fact that there is a single point of contact for the entire fleet simplifies the user’s management control process and allows set key performance indicators to be introduced across the entire fleet which invariably leads to reduced truck downtime and greater productivity. Having one partner also means accountability issues are straightforward in the event of a problem.
However, successful multi vendor service contracts require a high level of professionalism from the materials handling company if the potential cost savings and productivity increases that successful MVS partnerships should provide are to be achieved.
“Many companies simply cannot undertake true MVS contracts because their supply chain will not support the demand for spare parts that the MVS agreement requires,” explains Nicholas Allen.
He continues: “For any truck user forklift downtime is unacceptable. A multi vendor service partner has to be able to draw parts through its supply chain for every make and type of truck in operation at a client’s site. At facilities where several truck brands are working this is a lot of parts and there are very few companies with the supply chain sophistication to meet a user’s demands for minimal downtime.
There are also issues surrounding the training of engineers to the level where they are competent to work across a range of lift truck brands, as Nicholas Allen explains: “Engineers may have been trained to work on counterbalanced trucks but have no experience of dealing with, for example, reach trucks. They may also be competent at repairing a certain brand of truck but be unsure about another less well known manufacturer’s products.”
Jungheinrich offers a range of managed services for all major brands and the company’s investment in stock, backed up by an industry leading supply chain, means that Jungheinrich customers enjoy class leading first time fix rates and therefore benefit from maximum up time and greater productivity for their business.
“We have been offering MVS for a number of years and our highly skilled engineers and support teams are able to provide total maintenance cover for all major brands of materials handling equipment” says Nicholas Allen. “Where a breakdown is reported, we are able to complete most on site calls the same day.”
Although in the region of 70 per cent of all trucks in operation in the UK are acquired in some form of contract hire package a considerable number of truck users still prefer to buy their trucks outright and it is these companies that have the most to gain by switching to multi vendor service agreements.
Jungheinrich UK Ltd
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